For Generation X, Kurt Loder will forever be remembered as the dead-panning elder statesman of MTV, the guy who gave you the latest on Nirvana or the Gin Blossoms on “The Week in Rock.”

He’s moved on from MTV but not the news, steadily — but quietly — becoming an advocate for libertarianism. The 66-year-old Loder appeared Thursday at the Washington headquarters of Reason magazine to promote his new book of film reviews, “The Good, the Bad and the Godawful: 21st-Century Movie Reviews.”

We got Loder to open up more about politics than about Pacino or Pearl Jam.

“Back in the 1970s, I was working for some paper in New Jersey, and this flier came across my desk and it said: ‘Free Love and Free Markets.’ And I just thought that was a great thing. It made sense to me. I’m drawn to the idea that people are allowed to do what they want without hurting other people. It’s your body to do stuff with, and government should be fairly minimal.”

Of the libertarian in the 2012 race, Ron Paul, Loder observes that the Texas congressman “says a lot of things that I agree with — the war on drugs, for instance.” But Loder remains unsold on the GOP field.

“The people that the Republicans are putting forth are of questionable value,” Loder said. “If the GOP is going to go with Newt Gingrich, that’s a train wreck waiting to happen. I can’t believe they’d be going in that direction. … This is a very difficult time which calls for someone with unusual abilities.”

That unique individual? It’s not Barack Obama, according to Loder, who remains outspoken in his dislike of the current administration.

“The current administration has been sort of disasterous,” Loder said. “It has to be replaced, by a footstool if necessary. I’m not a fan of the Obama administration. … I think there’s a good chance they will be replaced unless the Republicans screw things up.”

Loder’s views stand in contrast to the stereotype of his former employer, MTV, which has long had its political coverage billed as liberal and supportive of the Democratic Party. In addition to dinging the Obama administration, Loder has criticized the likes of Michael Moore and Michael Bloomberg, and he’s not sure that his former employer could do much to rally young voters this time around.

“These may be different times,” Loder said. “I’m not sure there’s the enthusiasm for Obama among young people that there was in 2008.”

And that enthusiasm may be lacking for any aspect of our political system, according to Loder, who has a fairly glass-half-empty take on the current state of affairs.

“Is there ever anybody that people want to vote for? It’s always the lesser of two evils. It’s hard to be optimistic about either party. I think there’s a general feeling in the country of just resentment of the political class, not just left or right. All of them seem to be questionable people.”